Equimundo News – 10th Edition

At the end of May, days before the beginning of the World Cup in Brazil, Equimundo launched a campaign to prevent the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. The launch coincides with the increased vulnerability of children and adolescents to sexual exploitation during major sporting events like the World Cup. However, Equimundo intends to take the campaign beyond the World Cup, and to raise awareness about patterns of masculinity that legitimize sexual exploitation of children and adolescents in Brazil and worldwide. Executive Director Tatiana Moura reflects on these issues in the article “It’s not just for fun, it’s exploitation.”

In this edition, we include an interview with Jorginho, a former football player on the Brazilian national team, who sponsors the campaign. Jorginho acts as the campaign’s spokesperson and participates in its videos, available here.

In June, Equimundo launched the in-depth results from its study on gender and conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in London. The results from the survey reveal high levels of gender-based violence and the continuing effects of conflict on couple and family relations, which Equimundo’s Gary Barker and Henny Slegh discuss in the article “Being Honest About Sexual Violence in War, and Everywhere Else.”

In previous months, Equimundo received two significant awards. The first was the Third Annual Avon Communications Award for Community Change, for Equimundo’s publication of the children’s book Vento no Rosto (“Wind on my Face” in English), which promotes violence-free education from the perspective of children. The second was the Womanity Award from the Womanity Foundation, awarded jointly to Equimundo and partner Abaad, which will fund a pilot project to engage young men displaced by conflict in Lebanon in the prevention of violence against women.

We also include a feature discussing some of the findings of the Living Peace Groups that were held in 2013 in Burundi and in Democratic Republic of the Congo. The groups, supported by the World Bank’s LOGiCA Fund (Learning on Gender & Conflict in Africa), intend to reduce community violence in post-conflict scenarios, by helping men to deal with war trauma.

In Brazil, the “Shameless” Campaign, aimed at promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights of young men and women, will be expanded in 2014 to reach a larger number of schools.

On June 11th, Equimundo celebrated 17 years of work in gender equality, and we are happy to contribute to a more just world for all.

Enjoy the reading!